OneYear Mark
by a.l.russo
Summary: It's a year after the Undercover incident, and Olivia is alone. Or at least, until she hears a knock on her door. 110% E/O. R&R and enjoy!


One-Year Mark

a story by e-oshippa47

Olivia sat on her couch. In her apartment. Alone. That's how she wanted it.

At least she thought she did.

It was exactly the one-year mark since… since IT happened. Since that horrible day in the basement. Since the day that made her finally understand how victims felt. Since the day she was this close to being raped, Since the day she was a victim.

She WASN'T a victim, she had told herself.

But was that really true?

Olivia knew she had been off today, with snapping at people at biting off suspect's heads. But when she snapped at her partner and best friend, Elliot, she knew that she was more hurt than she had accepted. Elliot still didn't know; she had managed to somehow veer him off his path of curiosity in that department.

She sat on her couch with her knees to her chest, giving her chin a spot to rest on. She ran her fingers through her messy hair, the only sound she heard was the hard rain falling on her roof. Her lights remained off; she felt as though she didn't deserve them.

She had considered going to a bar. "No," her mind told her, sternly. "I'm not resorting to my mother's actions." And with that harsh thought, Olivia stayed put.

She heard a soft pounding on her door. Scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, she glanced down at her watch: 2:00 A.M. That could only mean that there was one person standing on the other side of that door.

Walking over and undoing the deadbolts, she swung open the door, revealing her partner, Elliot, "Elliot, what are you doing here?" She asked, softly. Her voice cracked by not using it for hours.

"I couldn't sleep; I needed to know you were okay." He sounded worried, and his face looked it, too.

"I'm…I'm fine." Olivia said, stammering. "Do you want to come in?" She asked, after a moment.

He nodded, and Olivia leaned against the door to let him in. As he passed her, she caught a whiff of his scent; it didn't smell, it just smelled like Elliot always smelled. That was the most comfort she had the entire night.

He sat down on her couch, letting himself sink into it. He was genuinely tired; he hadn't slept the entire night. He was too concerned about Olivia. His partner. His best friend. His Livvy. But seeing that she was still breathing, and that she had restrained herself from alcohol, made his mental state and physical state relax.

Olivia plopped down next to him, keeping her legs curved around the end of the couch and her feet touching the floor. Her legs hurt from their original position; after all, they had been locked for some-odd hours.

They were silent for a moment, both trying to regain energy. Elliot was the first one to break the silence, by saying, "You acted like this around the same time last year," He stated, softly and cautiously.

Olivia said nothing—she knew he was right. She was also beginning to wonder if Elliot ever really did accept the fact that she wasn't going to tell him what happened that night.

"You know, I never really did stop wondering what happened to you in the basement." He said, almost as if to read her thoughts.

Dammit, Olivia thought. She got up, and walked over to her window, staring out to the New York City skyline. She used to think this place was amazing. But after fighting off the sick bastards that still lurk in its corners for ten years, she's had her doubts.

Elliot walked over, and planted himself next to her. "What happened?" He asked, softly. His words pierced Olivia like a knife, each time it replayed in her head it would continually jab her, until she was no more.

Olivia closed her eyes, the only image she saw was of Harris and the God-awful basement. She sighed; her answer for such a long time had been "Nothing," but she knew that was wearing out its welcome. If she were to tell anyone, her first choice would be Elliot.

So why was she holding back?

She herself didn't understand it. Maybe it was because she feared that it would be true if she spoke it aloud, or word would get around, and Harris would find her again.

Olivia turned her head to face Elliot, and found that he was already staring intently at her, his magnificent slate-blue eyes filled with concern and partial worry.

"I was almost raped," she said, her voice almost inaudible. She turned her head away from him as she said this, out of shame. She solved sex-crimes for a living and she almost got caught in a rape? Not acceptable. For her standards, anyway.

Elliot didn't say anything, but she felt his eyes on him. She knew this was his silent way of saying, "Continue."

So she did. "Harris led me to the room in the basement. He threw me onto the mattress, and I got away somehow. But he found me, and… and if Fin weren't there, then I'd… I'd…." She couldn't finish though, for every word she spoke she would see the vivid memory of that dreaded night. She cupped her hand over her mouth, letting her tears roll across it as if it weren't an obstacle.

Elliot wrapped his arms around her. Maybe it was for comfort, or maybe it was through their own language of saying, "I won't let you go." Whatever it was, Olivia accepted it. She turned around to face him, looking up at his eyes. She noticed that they were filled with tears, and some of his tears had spilled onto his cheeks. She buried his head in his shoulder anyone, letting every ounce of guilt, shame, and worry fall out of her in the form of water-droplets.

Elliot rubbed her back with his hand, and he kissed the top of Olivia's head. She meant to much to him, and he didn't know what he was thinking when he decided against convincing Olivia to not enter Sealview.

They held each other for the longest time, not caring that they had work in the morning.

Olivia felt the urge to pull back, and just gaze at Elliot for a bit. When he felt her slight jerk of a movement, he pulled back as well. They both, accidentally, got caught in each other's eyes, each pair wet and puffy. Olivia always secretly admired the fact that when Elliot cried, his eyes got a shade lighter. Which she used to think was impossible, but when it did happen, it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

For Olivia though, it was the exact opposite; her eyes got darker. Elliot always wished he could capture the exact shade and frame it, just to remember how hurt his partner was when she found her breaking point.

While gazing at Elliot, she noticed that his head was gradually coming closer, his eyes now looking at her lips. She was in a state of shock—Elliot was doing this? Her partner, her love of ten years, was finally doing this?

She didn't have time to process the whole fact, their lips were already one. They had both kissed each other softly, and in that moment, they didn't care about what would happen if the precinct found out about them, who won the "secret" betting pool Munch was having, or what the consequences would be with Kathy. All they cared about, was being with each other,

They pulled back slowly, in unison. Olivia stared at Elliot, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. He did the same, both refusing to let go of one another.

Olivia swore her heart burst of so much love and respect for this man. Elliot was always there, no matter what.

As they held each other, Olivia lingered her thoughts on every memory she ever had with Elliot, some of them being the ones that made her heart leap, and others that made her heart crumble and shatter to a million pieces. But then she realized where she was at that exact moment in time, and realized,

She wouldn't trade any of it for the world.


End file.
